| Show Forget about gas prices during the summer get your best friend ED to give you rides 4 yb I r Jeff Dixon Opinion Editor haa what's that fuss everybody move to the back of the bus said in their nominated Grammy-nominated song Rosa Parks Yes what IS that fuss If gas is so expensive which it is in the case of many students students students stu stu- dents why would one continue to drive so much Why not use that free UTA pass included with an education here at Sure UTA takes longer there are a few nuisances here and there and it sure aint sexy but that pass can save a person lotsof lots lotsof lotsof of money money for the stuff students seem to need three squares of fast food daily excessive alcohol weekly 1000 text messages monthly and interest rates annually Seriously though we need to face the harsh reality that gas wont won't likely be affordable until we graduate and are earning a living wage Gas wont won't cost any less well we'll just be earning more Demonize them all you want for being greedy or for price gouging but oil companies have every right to their record profits But dont don't go crying to Congressional Democrats asking asking asking ask ask- ing them to step in and pass a punitive windfall profit tax on oil revenues revenues Not only would that would be wrong but also impractical and impossible First consider that this president president president dent would be required to signoff sign signoff signoff off such a tax not going to happen Also a tax would help n nr r Q t A p 4 p to Jeff Dixon totes his ED PASS to nobody particularly those who I feel the biggest impact of the I high prices To think prices will somehow somehow somehow some- some somei i how decrease as a result of a tax I 1 if false Actually they'll i j increase as corporations would 1 need to consider paying such a c tax when setting their prices 1 Finally the last thing the federal federal federal fed fed- eral government needs is more I 1 money to squander regardless of whose butt its it's being coerced from What is happening is simple the free market is doing what it will just as it should in a free society When global oil prices rise oil companies adjust and raise prices in order to keep their costs within a certain ratio to Photo illustration by Adam Heath help save money this summer overall price They pay more they earn more But yes they are cunning As individual entities they've risen to the top of a competitive industry and have recently begun to merge with one another er r in order to create even more wealth and power With those motives in mind they may well weIl be testing consumers consumers' consumers consumers' consumers consumers' con con- sumers' sumers will to drive every every- where by seeing how much they can charge per gallon As long as we dont don't decrease our demand prices will remain high This is apparent when we experience the annual Memorial Day gas price hike To call caIl this gouging would be incorrect As a subjective label it is only an expression of your displeasure with paying a aprice aprice aprice price that is more than what you feel is reasonable for a not-as- not you think com com- Now charging 4 for bottled water at a sweltering crowded Woodstock 99 where no free drinking water was available that's gouging Our response to these conditions conditions conditions condi condi- must be to move away from that which is working less and less for more and more people especially students We must put more pressure on public public public pub pub- lic transit systems by increasing our use of them Increased use will lead to increased convenience in the form fonn of more bus routes and rail lines running with higher frequency as systems adapt to accommodate more regular riders riders riders rid rid- ers which in turn may entice more people to use the system And if it makes you feel any better you'd be sticking it to those evil behemoths of petrol and their hardheaded profit- profit minded investors America for a variety of reasons reasons reasons rea rea- sons must move away from fossil fuels By using your Ed pass you'll say yes to practical cal affordable and eventually more sustainable methods of transportation Heck you may even have the time to read this |
